Whoa

No- I haven't disappeared entirely... it has just been unbelievably busy, weird, frightening and crazy around here.... my last post was on June 8th to announce the winner of my Pay It Forward contest. The days just prior to that were the dance recital, and I felt like taking a break from everything and just re-cooping a bit... then on Monday June 9th at about 10:50pm I got the scariest phone call of my life. I was enjoying a glass of wine and watching Atonement when the phone rang... it was my mom. My dad had been in a head-on collision in his little sporty convertible about ½ mile from their home. He was airlifted to a nearby hospital and that was all she could tell me. "Don't freak out," she said, which was her way of saying hold it together for a minute, ok? I could tell by the panic in her voice that she was freaking out just a bit herself. (She was calling me from the car. My sister was driving her to the hospital. She hadn't even seen him yet. But because the accident was so close to home, and my Dad's friend was following him, and called her when it happened, she was at the scene and saw him being removed by EMTs and loaded into the helicopter.) My brother in law came over with my niece and they slept on my couches while my children slept in blissful ignorance and my other sister drove me to the hospital. (My husband was traveling for business.) We sat in the ER for hours before we were allowed to see him. And he was lucky. He sustained a severely broken arm that required surgery to repair, a broken neck, broken ankle, bruised lung and lacerated knee...but he was going to be ok. It is moments like that, receiving that phone call, that shake you up and make you step back and take stock in your own life. I'm happy to say that Dad is home and recovering nicely (well, he had to go back to the doctor because he developed cellulitis in his ankle) and we have all taken a collective sigh of relief, but man, was that scary.

Then we had a wicked storm here and we lost a tree to lightning and it took out our internet access for a while :(

But I am back...my camera is still broken which really stinks because I just made 3 new totes as end of year thank you gifts for teachers and I really want to photograph them. I am just now putting the finishing touches on my Pay It Forward package for Amber...who by the way gave birth to Noah on MY birthday. What a great gift! Thanks Amber!!